John Henry blames 2017 offensive struggles on approach at the plate; haven't added big bat but did make staff changes

FORT MYERS, Fla. - Despite not adding any additional players to the roster, Red Sox owner John Henry and chairman Tom Werner believe the club's offense will be better with a new field staff in charge.

The Red Sox fired manager John Farrell in addition to his coaching staff following the 2017 season. The only holdovers from the staff were Dana LeVangie, who was promoted to pitching coach, and Brian Bannister, who remains in his analytical, assistant pitching coach position.

Without directly saying it, Henry seemed to lay much of the blame for last year's offensive drought on former hitting coach Chili Davis, who was also in the same role in 2016 when the Red Sox led the American League in doubles, average and OPS.

"We've made a lot of changes other than just the manager. You haven't noticed?" Henry said when asked about the lack of turnover on the roster. "I'm just saying from my perspective at least, we've made a lot of changes. I think our approach last year was lacking offensively and we had issues that the players have already talked about."

Henry mentioned the Red Sox's offensive approach several times throughout a 17-minute session with the media on Monday. He was asked specifically about not adding an additional bat to the lineup.

"I think we would've had significant power last year if we had a different approach," he said.

"I didn't think we were nearly aggressive enough and I think our approach was lacking for a good part of the season," he added.

Henry said it was a concern ownership expressed with the field staff during the season last year, but didn't think the team would benefit from a midseason coaching change.

Boston waited until after the 2017 season to reorganize its staff. In addition to hiring Alex Cora as manager, a new set of coaches were put in place.

Among them is Tim Hyers as Boston's hitting coach. Hyers spent the last two seasons as the Los Angeles Dodgers' assistant hitting coach while also serving as director of minor league hitting. Prior to that, Hyers worked for the Red Sox as a minor league hitting coordinator from 2013-2015.

Whether or not Hyers and newly added assistant hitting coach Andy Barkett can fix the Red Sox's approach at the plate remains to be seen.